Loop? What loop?

I'm well out of the quilty/fabric loop, I have absolutely no idea what fabric is new/cool/'on trend' (I hate that phrase!) or indeed what is going on in terms of quilt alongs, swaps or anything these days.  My head (and life) have been full of many other things for so long that I feel like a total newbie again.

But I do a a couple of very good reasons to get back on that horse, get back into the loop.  One obviously my delectable little girl

(I'm so not over looking/taking photos of her yet!)

And secondly I was in the fortunately position a few months ago to be able to upgrade my sewing machine
so treated myself to this lovely beauty - a Janome XL 601

There are quite a few things I love about it - it's so much quieter than my old Janome, it has a top loading bobbin, it has a larger choice of stitches than my old machine (even though I'll probably only use the same 3-4!) but by far my favourite, bestest thing about it is the start/stop button!  I can't say enough about how much I love the ability to sew without using a foot pedal. It means I can sew in small spaces (handy when our office/craft roof is now a nursery) and I just find it so much easier.  Love, love, love that little button and what it can allow me to do :)

Although I have been out of the loop, one thing I have picked up on is the scrappy round the world that is doing the rounds at the moment, I think there is also a flickr group too, and to be honest I think I might have joined it but I can't actually remember.  (Yes my memory is THAT bad these days)  When I started my maternity leave I decided I would attempt to start a quilt so I went through my stash and came up with a fairly decent scrappy bundle of fabrics.  So I've made a start but that was 4/5 weeks ago, not much has been done lately but once Little Miss gets into a bit of routine at nights then maybe I'll have the odd hour or two across a week to pick it up again.

Quick things I need to tackle are a quilt for my son which only needs the binding done.  Just need to decide what fabric to go for - decisions, decisions! 

It's Been Too Long ....

since I blogged anything about what I've been doing or why I've been absent for such a long time.

Lots of things have been going on, work stuff, family stuff but mainly I've been working on a special New creation. A very special one.

Little miss Megan was born on 19 February at 6:53pm weighing in at 8lbs 4oz. She has slotted in fairly well into family life but it does feel like starting all over again in some respects. The dude is almost 4 so you kind of forget just how small newborn babies are and just what the techniques are for dealing with sleep deprivation - not quite mastered that one yet.

But she is just perfect, my family is complete and I'm one very happy (although a little tired) mummy!

Starry, starry night

My star quilt is finally finished!!  I only started it in February so finishing it at the start of June is about my average timescale LOL!  Part of the reason it took so long was due to having to piece the backing (which I haven't taken a photo of - doh) but it always gives me such a headache piecing large backings that I procrastinate like nobody's business.

But I got it done, I only lightly quilted the star - basic lines following the lines of the star and decided to do a bit more quilting on the large triangles in between the star points. Difficult to see but this is just normal stipple quilting

And then on the other points I varied it slightly and tried to turn the little loops into circles - I'm really pleased with how I did.

I have to admit these photos aren't the best, I finished the binding on Thursday night and since then it's been dull, wet & windy - not ideal for taking photos outside.  This is my dodgy attempt at taking a photo outside

We also spent some time today rearranging Euan's bedroom, now he's three it's time he has a bit more of "boys" bedroom instead of the current lemon coloured walls with Pooh bear wall decals.  So part of deciding how to decorate has involved moving storage units from my sewing room/Pete's office and I unearthed some of my scrapbooking supplies that I bought years ago (honestly it's been years!).  I did a fair bit of scrapbooking before Euan came along but for some reason since his arrival I have done nothing ... nada.  Taken loads of photos and even got some of them printed too but I haven't made any scrapbook pages about my little boy.  Most people get into scrapbooking WHEN they have kids to mark all the major events, and the not so major one too, but not me, it's like I've been scared away from it!  I could have made the time, I certainly have for making quilts, and a scrapbook page takes a fraction of the time of a quilt!  So I'm going to have a read this this lot for inspiration and finally get round to recording some of my son's life.

All quiet on the 'making' front

Not a lot has been going in terms of making stuff for a while, no real reason just lots of stuff - mostly very boring, but real life stuff - going on.

But I have been buying The Art of Quilting magazine and been following the sampler quilt which it will create.  Admittedly I need to do quite a few to catch up but this is where I've got to so far. I'm pretty pleased with how they have turned out :)

I've also, finally, gotten round to quilting my star quilt. Hopefully I'll get the binding made tonight and get it sewn on this weekend - only started it in Feb so a fairly quick make for me!!

My Little Super Hero

Has turned 3!!!  The last week has consisted of lots of birthday preparations, the birthday itself and then recovering from it all!

Now what does every 3 year old super-hero-in training need .............. a cape, so what does every mummy of a super-hero-in-training need to make - a cape!!

I give you "Super Dude"!!!!!!